In this issue you will Find Topics On:
- Assistive Technology in Spanish
- Common Core
- Digital Tools
- Early Intervention
- English Language Learners
- Families and Communities
- IEP
- Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
- Literacy Activities
- Mental Health
- Pinterest boards in EdTech
- Reading Aps
- Resources on speech, language, and hearing
- Special Education Camps
- Staff Training
- Transition
Assistive Technology in Spanish
Video in Spanish on assistive technology.
The Family Center on Technology and Disability has released its first Spanish language video in the series AT in Action. Meet Marta, the mother of Isabel, a young girl with fine motor and learning disabilities. The video introduces viewers to assistive technology and takes them through an IEP meeting during which AT is considered. The video is captioned in both Spanish and English and is “described” as well.
https://www.youtube.com/user/FCTDvideo?feature=watch
Common Core
Camps for children with special needs.
Consult NICHCY’s 2013 Summer Camps fact sheet and connect with camps and other summer opportunities for young people with disabilities.
https://nichcy.org/premium-publications/camps
Digital Tools
Digital tools for kids with special needs.
Children can benefit enormously from the types of learning experiences that engage them on a variety of levels such as seeing, hearing, speaking, singing, and movement. Reading Rockets shares best practices in using educational technology and media in the classroom and at home.
https://www.readingrockets.org/blog/54156/
Early Intervention
Brain science of early childhood.
The neuroscientific research on the early brain is one of the most compelling bodies of evidence for investing in young children. Here’s a range of tools (PowerPoint, videos, and one-page information briefs) to help non-scientists present information on early brain development and the importance of investing in early childhood programs.
https://www.readynation.org/brainscience/
English Language Learners
Impact: Feature Issue on Educating K-12 English Language Learners with Disabilities
Theme Issue
https://ici.umn.edu/products/impact/261/
The Institute on Community Integration’s “Impact: Feature Issue on Educating K-12 English Language Learners with Disabilities” is available online and in print. English language learners with disabilities are a growing part of the K-12 school population in the U.S. The available knowledge on how to effectively educate these students and measure their progress is small but increasing. Many educators and families have pressing questions, and this “Impact” offers responses to some of those questions from people around the country who are helping schools meet the needs of this growing student population.
Families and Communities
Adaptive sports.
This mom shares with you 12 Important Things to Remember About Adaptive Sports for Children with Disabilities, based on her experiences in finding an adaptive sports team for her son with disabilities.
https://tinyurl.com/csg5lv6
IEP
Eight Steps to Better IEP Meetings
Article
https://www.wrightslaw.com/advoc/articles/iep.bollero.hearts.htm
“Eight Steps to Better IEP Meetings: Play Hearts Not Poker” is an article on tips for advocating for the best opportunities for their child in Individualized Education Plan (IEP) meetings by strategies including joining and sustaining relationships, focusing on the child’s needs, not the district’s resources or parents’ expectations, providing “face-saving” solutions to disagreements, keeping records of data to support plans, getting to know the school and educators; listening actively, and encouraging help from others.
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Offers New Data on Juvenile Justice
Report
https://ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/structure_process/faqs.asp
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has released the first in a series of national overviews that describe where states stand on a variety of juvenile justice issues, including how they classify status offenses, extended age of jurisdiction, and administration of community supervision and aftercare services. The overviews are available via the Juvenile Justice System, Structure, and Process section of the FAQ section of OJJDP’s Statistical Briefing Book (in the questions marked “New”). The Statistical Briefing Book provides timely and reliable answers to questions OJJDP most frequently receives from media, policymakers, and the general public.
Reforming Juvenile Justice: A Developmental Approach
Report
https://tinyurl.com/mvcyl72
National Academies Press has published “Reforming Juvenile Justice: A Developmental Approach,” the report resulting when the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) asked the National Research Council to convene a committee to conduct a study of juvenile justice reform. The goal of “Reforming Juvenile Justice: A Developmental Approach” was to review recent advances in behavioral and neuroscience research and draw out the implications of this knowledge for juvenile justice reform, to assess the new generation of reform activities occurring in the United States, and to assess the performance of OJJDP in carrying out its statutory mission as well as its potential role in supporting scientifically based reform efforts.
Literacy Activities
Early literacy activities-in multiple languages!
Washington Learning Systems’ On the Go early literacy sheets are available at no cost in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Mandarin, Somali, Burmese, and Russian. The materials give parents ideas for activities to promote early language and literacy development in children with and without disabilities. Free registration is required to download the materials.
https://www.walearning.com/resources/on-the-go/
Mental Health
Moving On: Federal Programs for Transition-Age Youth with Serious Mental Health Conditions
Report
https://www.bazelon.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=8Vesx_bWHBA%3d&tabid=104
“Moving On: Federal Programs for Transition-Age Youth with Serious Mental Health Conditions” is an analysis, from the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, of 57 federal programs offering resources to assist youth with serious mental health conditions in making the transition from childhood-and often, foster care-to independence. Available in pdf (464 KB, 34 pp).
Pinterest boards in EdTech
Teachers-the 25 best Pinterest boards in EdTech.
Pinterest is rapidly becoming a favorite tool of educators all over the nation, and many have amassed great collections of edtech-related pins that teachers and students alike can use to explore new ways to learn, share, teach, and grow.
https://www.onlineuniversities.com/blog/2012/09/the-25-best-pinterest-boards-edtech/
Reading Aps
Reading: 50 useful apps for students with reading disabilities.
https://tinyurl.com/8w6wadx
Resources on speech, language, and hearing
Top 10 resources on speech, language, and hearing.
Early language, listening, and speaking are very important to literacy development. If you suspect that your child or a student is struggling with speech, language, and/or hearing problems, learn more about testing and assessment, accommodations, and additional professional help. You’ll also find tips on reading aloud with children who have speech and language problems or who are deaf or hard of hearing.
https://www.readingrockets.org/article/43079/
Special Education Camps
Camps for children with special needs.
Consult NICHCY’s 2013 Summer Camps fact sheet and connect with camps and other summer opportunities for young people with disabilities.
https://nichcy.org/premium-publications/camps
Staff Training
Staff training and development.
Looking for resources you can use for professional development in early childhood and early intervention? Here they are!
https://nichcy.org/earlyinterventionists/stafftraining
Transition
Center on Transition to Employment’s Archived Webinars on Promising Practices in Transition and on The Personnel Factor
Archived Webinar
https://tinyurl.com/ny9gmk5
The Center on Transition to Employment, administered by TransCen, Inc. and Virginia Commonwealth University, has archived two recent webinars. “Promising Practices in Transition for Predominantly Minority Youth: Results of Multi-Year, Multi-Site Study” examined personal and contextual factors contributing to employment for predominantly minority youth with high incidence disabilities. Presenters discussed the essential elements (what and why) of successful transition programs and interventions derived from this study and discussed strategies for replication and innovation of promising practices and interventions. “The Personnel Factor” was an informational webinar on new research into the characteristics of employment specialists and their implications for successful transition to paid jobs for transition-age youth. It discussed the four personal attributes that emerged from this study, and implications for recruitment, hiring, training and advancing effective employment specialists.
Diplomas at Risk: A Critical Look at the High School Graduation Rate
Report
https://www.ncld.org/disability-advocacy/where-we-stand-policies/diplomas-at-risk
“Diplomas at Risk: A Critical Look at the High School Graduation Rate,” a report from the National Center for Learning Disabilities finds that of the 2.2 million American students with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD), only 68% graduate with a regular high school diploma. Many schools make decisions as early as elementary school that take students off-track. The report includes a number of recommendations to reverse this trend.
Diplomas Count: Second Chances: Turning Dropouts Into Graduates
Report
https://www.edweek.org/ew/toc/2013/06/06/
The annual “Diplomas Count” report from Education Week and the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center finds that the national high school graduation rate reached 74.7% for the Class of 2010, the highest since 1973, and an increase of 7.9 percentage points since 2000. This year’s report, “Second Chances: Turning Dropouts Into Graduates,” projects that although more than 1 million students will fail to graduate from high school this year, there are 96,000 fewer dropouts compared to last year.
Think College Two New Insight Briefs
Insight Briefs
https://www.thinkcollege.net/premium-publications/insight-briefs
Two new insight briefs on inclusive postsecondary education, by Think College, are available online. “Establishing Inclusive Postsecondary Education Opportunities: Tips for Effective Communication” discusses the best way, now that many colleges are offering opportunities for students with intellectual disabilities to take classes and participate in the campus community, to talk to college administrators, faculty, and staff about starting such initiatives, with tips on getting an inclusive postsecondary educational initiative started. “A Dual Enrollment Postsecondary Education Program for Students with Intellectual Disabilities: Winthrop Transition to College” discusses the Winthrop University Transition to College (WTC) program. The WTC program typically serves 8-10 high school students from two local school districts. It is an extension of the special education services offered in each district as a placement for community-based instruction (CBI).
Think College: Profiles and Promising Practices in Higher Education for Students with Intellectual Disability
Report
https://www.thinkcollege.net/premium-publications/program-profiles
Think College’s “Profiles and Promising Practices in Higher Education for Students with Intellectual Disability” is a monograph based on Think College staffs’ visits to five postsecondary education (PSE) programs, to report on the details and nuances of PSE programs serving students with intellectual disabilities. While national data derived from surveys or broad-scale evaluation efforts offer a “big picture” of what higher education is offering these students, detailed local data can give a better sense of what is really happening on the ground. The monograph describes the background and structure of these PSE programs, and identifies promising practices having a positive effect on student outcomes. Identifying these innovative/emerging practices can serve as a springboard to promote further policy, program, and resource development in order to expand postsecondary education opportunities and options for individuals with intellectual disability.
Using Data for College and Career Readiness
Report
https://www.betterhighschools.org/docs/NCEA_CollegeCareerReadiness.pdf
“Using the Right Data to Determine if High School Interventions Are Working to Prepare Students for College and Careers,” from The National High School Center, is a report designed to guide educators in collecting and analyzing student achievement data that can help determine if and how high school interventions for underprepared students are effectively preparing them for college and careers. It reports on research on the relationship between students’ eighth-grade academic preparation gaps and their likelihood of meeting college and career readiness targets, and describes the datasets that states and school districts should create to be able to assess the benefits of interventions for students at different prior achievement levels; and concludes with guidance for school districts and high schools in using this information. Available in pdf (346 KB, 13 pp).
Federal programs for transition-age youth with serious mental health conditions.
Moving On is an analysis of 57 federal programs offering resources to assist youth with serious mental health conditions in making the transition from childhood-and often, foster care-to independence. From the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law.
https://www.bazelon.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=8Vesx_bWHBA%3d&tabid=104
Work experiences and internships for youth.
Teens with disabilities-do you want to build work experience while learning about careers you’re interested in? Expand and explore your professional network? Earn money or school credit while you work? If so, Participating in Internships and Work-Based Experiences is a tipsheet that’ll help.
https://www.ncwd-youth.info/tip-sheet/internships-and-work-based-experiences
